Reston 20/20 is an independent Reston citizens committee dedicated to sustaining Reston's quality of life through excellence in community planning, zoning, and development.

Town Center in Winter

Monday, May 9, 2016

Proposed FAR 5.0 Zoning Ordinance Amendment (ZOA), April 26, 2016

Below is the latest proposed version (the fifth since last September) of the County's proposed FAR 5.0 zoning ordinance amendment (ZOA), including the County's staff report, for your review. The essence of permitting this high density is to include all County Transit Station Areas (TSAs), Community Revitalization Districts (CRDs), and Community Business Centers (CBCs) in two zoning categories: Planned Development Commercial (PDC) and Planned Residential Mixed-Use (PRM) districts. The densification covers 20 areas spread across the County.

We would note that Reston has three TSAs, all subject to this proposed ZOA.

Ostensibly, the ZOA limits an area's zoning to the density in its Comprehensive Plan or "other recommendations" in the plan. In so doing, it fails to note that the new Fairfax Forward planning process virtually eliminates meaningful public participation in any amendments that developers may propose to the plan at either the area or parcel level. Once these plan revisions are approved at a higher level, approving the irrevocable zoning authorization at FAR 5.0 is virtually automatic.

We would also note that the proposed ZOA allows up to half of all "open space" to be on the roof of the new buildings, meaning there is likely to be less than 10% open space available to the public on the ground.

We have highlighted the headings of the two sections dealing with FAR 5.

About Reston 20/20 Planning Initiative

The goal of the Reston 20/20 Committee is to elicit, organize, and represent to government officials on key community issues a vision of what Reston's citizens believe a 21st Century Reston should become.

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Make a difference--VOLUNTEER for Reston!

The Reston 20/20 Committee is looking for Reston residents willing to help the committee advance a citizen's view of the future of Reston. Your participation may be as much--or as little--as you would like, starting with participation in periodic Reston 20/20 meetings.

If you're interested in keeping Reston a great place to live, work, & play, please contact Tammi Petrine (para1010@verizon.net) to be put on the Reston 20/20 mailing list. If you wish to volunteer, let her know your interests, abilities, and so forth, so we can match you to Reston 20/20's needs.